Described are compounds and methods useful in measuring membrane permeability and efflux transporter activity in bacteria, including multidrug resistance Gram negative bacteria.

Disclosed is a method for detecting and monitoring the presence, development and propagation of at least one infectious agent such as a bacterium or a virus, which is remarkable in that it includes the following steps: Subdivide the considered geographic area into area cells; Determine and identify in each area cell the points of presence, passing through or frequentation by human and/or animal beings likely to be infected by the infectious agent or by human and/or animal beings likely to be hosts to the infectious agent; and Install at each identified point in each area cell an autonomous device for detection of the infectious agent present in the environment surrounding the device by analysis and identification. Also disclosed is a device for executing the process.

The invention relates generally to immunoassays, and more particularly to monoclonal antibodies and immunoassays for the differential detection and quantitation of a wild-type crystal protein, such as a wild-type-Cry1Ab, from Bacillus thuringiensis and hybrid crystal proteins, which comprise all or a significant portion of the wild-type Cry protein in complex biological samples comprising both the wild-type Cry protein and one or more of the hybrid Cry proteins.

A method of testing for the presence of an infectious biomarker indicating bacteria, fungi, parasites, or viruses. A test sample comprising cellular and non-cellular material is collected from a patient, the test sample having a first amount of at least one infectious biomarker and a second amount of a host biomarker. The amount of the infectious biomarker(s) in the test sample is determined as is the amount of the host biomarker. The amount of infectious biomarker(s) in the test sample is normalized as a function of the amount of host biomarker therein. The normalizing step is a ratio of the first amount of the infectious biomarker(s) to the second amount of the host biomarker. The test sample is positive for a disease associated with the infectious biomarker(s) if the ratio is above a predetermined value. The normalized result is tracked over time to assess therapeutic response to treatment. A database is provided for interpreting results collected from the patient and for determining predictive sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy.

Provided is a device for detecting airborne particulate matter in aerosols, comprising: an air sampler to collect a sample of airborne particles suspended in air; an optical sensor; a controller; a fluidic apparatus to, under the control of the controller: capture, from the air sampler, and resuspend in a liquid medium, at least part of the airborne particles of the sample; and deliver the resuspended airborne particles to the optical sensor, which is configured to detect airborne particulate matter in the delivered airborne particles.

Also provided is a method adapted to use the device of the invention, and to a computer program product adapted to implement the method of the invention.

A computer implemented method for analyzing host phage response data comprises fitting a sequence of sigmoidal functions at each time point from a start time to an end time and selecting the best fit at each point. The best fit over all the time points is then selected, and a search performed for a time point with a similar coefficient of determination, but closer in time to a minimum time point indicative of the end of the lag phase. The lag time for the best fit time point is then obtained from the fitted model. If the best fit fails a threshold test then the dataset is considered to be flat and the lag time is set to the end time.

The present specification discloses SNAP-25 compositions, methods of making α-SNAP-25 antibodies that bind an epitope comprising a carboxyl-terminus at the P.sub.1 residue from the BoNT/A cleavage site scissile bond from a SNAP-25 cleavage product, α-SNAP-25 antibodies that bind an epitope comprising a carboxyl-terminus at the P.sub.1 residue from the BoNT/A cleavage site scissile bond from a SNAP-25 cleavage product, methods of detecting BoNT/A activity, and methods of detecting neutralizing α-BoNT/A antibodies.

Herein is reported a method for determining the binding affinity of the binding sites of a bivalent full length antibody of the human IgG1 subclass to a homo-multimeric antigen comprising the steps of i) incubating a mixture comprising the antibody and a polypeptide that is derived from lysine-gingipain of Porphyromonas gingivalis at a pH of from pH 7.5 to pH 8.5, in the presence of a reducing agent, at a temperature of from 30° C. to 42° C., for time of from 10 min. to 240 min. to cleave the antibody into Fabs and Fc-region, and ii) determining the binding affinity of the Fabs of the antibody for its antigen using a surface plasmon resonance method by directly applying the incubated reaction mixture obtained in the previous step in the surface plasmon resonance method and therewith determining the binding affinity of the binding sites of the bivalent full length antibody of the human IgG1 subclass.

Described herein are engineered microbe-targeting molecules, microbe-targeting articles, kits comprising the same, and uses thereof. Such microbe-targeting molecules, microbe-targeting articles, or the kits comprising the same can bind or capture of a microbe or microbial matter thereof, and can thus be used in various applications, such as diagnosis or treatment of an infection caused by microbes in a subject or any environmental surface.

Compounds, compositions, and methods for the diagnosis and/or treatment of medical conditions involving infections with and colonization by Pseudomonas bacteria including, for example, Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the lungs of patients with cystic fibrosis are described.